Solace
by Sergeant Turtle
Summary: Meridian #3. After the events in Angels and Demons, one of the team is struggling with closure and the broken shards of his sanity. Can the others forgive what he did before it's too late? Close your eyes. Don't listen to the voices. Hold on to what remains. (Rated T for mental breakdown, suicidal thoughts and sickness)
1. Quiescence

**I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. How many times do I have to say this?**

* * *

Quiescence

The silence in the lair was deafening.

There was no talking, no arguing, and no sounds of recreation or sparring.

Just silence.

Cloying, horrible silence.

Casey had to admit that a completely silent lair was one of the creepiest things he'd ever come across. He was leaning against the door frame of the infirmary with a hand on Raph's shoulder to prevent him from outright attacking Leo. Mikey sat on the other side of the door, shooting a venomous glare at his eldest brother every few minutes.

As for Leo himself, he was sitting on the stairs at the other end of the room with his knees drawn up to his chest, rocking back and forth slightly. His eyes were fixed on the floor a few feet ahead, filled with a mix of grief and fear.

There was a feeling of despair in the atmosphere, the kind of thing that makes your heart clench even if you don't know why. _And,_ thought Casey, _an awful lotta bad vibes from __these__ two, all directed at Leo over there._

He sighed. This was going to get nasty soon. Whatever had transpired that had caused the twins to set the emergency beacon, none of them knew. All they knew was that Raph and Mikey had found Leo kneeling on the rain-soaked concrete holding the limp and bloodied form of his twin brother, and the blue-masked ninja hadn't spoken a word since.

Not only that, but there had only been one gun among the discarded weapons on the roof earlier, and nobody else could have fired the bullet that April was now trying to remove. They had come to the conclusion that it had been _Leo _who had shot Donnie almost point-blank in the left side of the abdomen – but they didn't know _why_.

Leo's doubtful sanity was a current topic of discussion – when anyone spoke at all – and his tear-stained silence wasn't helping otherwise. He hadn't moved from his current position for at least half an hour, not even responding to Raph when the other threw a nasty look at him – which was often.

And that was just not normal.

* * *

It was two hours later that the door to the infirmary opened and April emerged, pulling off her gloves. 'I've removed the bullet and stitched him up the best I can – the rest is up to Don. Keep an eye on him at all times – this period is critical. If he doesn't wake up within 24 hours, he's not likely to wake up at all. What we do then will be a decision we'll have to make together.'

Raph nodded solemnly, then shot a last backward glance at the eldest before entering the infirmary. Mikey stayed in his spot for a minute, his gaze shooting daggers into the wall behind Leo's head, before getting to his feet and following Raph.

Leo flinched visibly at the sound of the door closing, but his eyes didn't waver from the spot on the floor. After a few moments, he got up and padded slowly and silently up the stairs and into his room. The click of the door caused April - washing her hands at the sink - to look up, her brain registering that something was missing from the room. She rinsed the soap off her hands, dried them on a towel, and headed up the stairs, stopping outside Leo's door. She knocked gently on the wood. 'Leo? Can we talk?'

There was the scratching sound of a pencil, then a piece of paper slipped under the door. April picked it up and read:

_I DON'T WANT TO TALK. PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME.  
_

'Why not?'

More scratching. Another slip of paper.

_BECAUSE EVEN DOING IT __THIS WAY__ IS HARD._

'Talking might help, Leo. You've said it yourself; it's good to tell someone about things.'

_NOT THIS TIME. IT'S TOO DIFFICULT. I DON'T WANT TO TALK.  
_

'Leonardo Hamato, what would your father say about this sulking?'

_I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT. HE MIGHT EVEN HAVE THE SAME THOUGHTS AS ALL OF YOU._

'I don't understand, Leo.'

_YOU HATE ME. YOU ALL DO. I CAN SEE IT. IN YOUR EYES, THE WAY YOU ALL AVOID ME.  
_

'I don't-' The scratching sound cut her off this time.

_REALLY? THE DOOR'S UNLOCKED AND YOU HAVEN'T COME IN. IF YOU REALLY WANTED TO TALK, WOULD YOU EVEN __TRY__ TURNING THE KNOB? __WOULD YOU?_

April said nothing. _Would_ she have? She wasn't sure of anything right now.

_I THOUGHT SO_.

The lock clicked, and April decided it probably wasn't a good idea to pursue the issue. She felt a tear trickle down her cheek as she went back downstairs. _Oh, Leo. What happened up there? Why won't you say anything?_


	2. Cacophony

**Still don't own them, people…**

* * *

Cacophony

Leo heard the footsteps retreating down the stairs, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Then the silence, overarching silence, suffocating him.

And with it the grief, raw and crushing, and he buried his face in his hands and sobbed until his throat was sore.

_...ohgods..._

_...Donnie..._

_...pleasedontdieplease..._

_...pleasepleaseplease..._

_...Donnie..._

_...littlebrother..._

_...Donnie..._

There was a flare of pain in his right arm, and he pushed up the sleeve of his hoodie as he remembered the presence of an injury. He hissed in pain as it stuck to the skin before tearing away to reveal four deep slashes and a lot of blood. _Damn it._ He'd forgotten that. And he couldn't just go down to the infirmary and fix it. Not by himself. Usually he had the help of...

He gulped as the memory of a gunshot sounded in his mind. What had possessed him to pick up a gun? He could just have easily picked a bo-staff and just knocked Don out - although that might not have been so easy, come to think of it; Don had been very strong in his vampire form.

Leo opened the door, looked out to see that there was no one around, and slunk to the upstairs bathroom. He found a clean washcloth and soaked it in the sink then started to wipe away the crusted blood from his hand and forearm.

More blood started welling up immediately and Leo rummaged around in the cupboard for the stash of bandages that were always kept there. He cleaned off the fresh blood and bound up the wound as best he could. It really needed stitching, but this would just have to do. He returned to his room and sat down on his bed, back against the wall.

Then the whispers started.

**Useless!**

**Stupid!**

**Traitor!**

**Murderer!**

'Go away…' he moaned, not caring whether the voices were real or just a figment of his imagination.

**Shot your own brother!**

**He'll die!**

**All your fault!**

'Leave me alone…'

**You killed him!**

'STOP IT!' Leo yelled, grabbing the nearest book and hurling it in the direction of the last voice.

But it did nothing, and he curled into a ball, trying to shut everything out. Now the memories were nipping at his mind, forcing him to relive the one bullet he ever fired. Again. And again. And again.

_...itwasntmeIdidntdoit..._

_...Idontknowwhathappened..._

_...Donnie..._

The whispers continued, and now they were the voices of his family, his friends.

**Why'd ya do it, Fearless?**

**What happened up there, bro?**

**Can't you just tell us, Leo?**

**Leo, I can't believe you'd do this to your own twin brother!**

Even the dead wouldn't leave him alone.

**Leonardo, you have disgraced the name of my clan!**

**My son – why did you do this deed?**

Leo tried to block them out, tried to make himself small and insignificant.

No. He didn't need to try for that. He _was_ insignificant.

Would anyone miss him if he just left? Would they even notice he was gone? Would they remember him eventually, five, ten, twenty years down the track?

Or would he just vanish, forgotten, a ghost – wandering alone until darkness claimed him? There were quicker ways of dying, and he knew several that would work very well.

The pain lanced up Leo's arm again. He pulled the bandage aside slightly to look at the wound. The skin around the cuts looked inflamed, but the bleeding had slowed. He could feel a headache coming on, though. And the voices wouldn't go away.

Leo clamped his hands over his head, covering himself with the blankets, try to muffle the voices, to at least make them unrecognizable. But they still came through, clear and terrible. He tried to yell, to scream his frustration, but everything felt tight, locked in place.

He couldn't move.

He couldn't run.

He couldn't stop the voices, the memories, the pain.

All he could do was let the tears fall silently as he closed his eyes and let sleep and nightmares overtake him.

Dreams full of blood, whisperings, the sound of gunshots, the frightened eyes of his brother.

And still the voices didn't stop.


	3. Schism

**I don't – oh, forget it…**

* * *

Schism

Raph was fuming.

This wasn't unusual at all.

But Raph fuming silently was. It didn't bode well for the object of his anger, and the current object of his anger was Leo.

This wasn't unusual either.

But for Leo to be unresponsive to Raph's anger, now _that_ was strange. Raph hadn't seen his eldest brother for an hour, not since they'd left him sitting on the stairs. He wasn't sure what he was going to say when he next laid eyes on him. All he could be sure of was that Leo wouldn't know what had hit him.

Mikey, sitting in a chair beside the bed, looked as if he'd like nothing more than to murder someone and string their cold corpse up on a swing set or something creepy like that. The usually bright blue eyes were glaring at empty space, and his normally cheerful face was like a thundercloud. Raph shook his head to clear away the musings and looked over at his baby brother. 'Go get cleaned up, Mike, you're bruised all over and covered in dirt.'

The orange-clad turtle shook his head and folded his arms across his chest. 'I don't want to leave.'

Raph's heart clenched as he looked at his baby brother, so worried, angry, and un-Mikey-like. 'It's okay, I'll come get you if anything happens.'

Mike looked reluctant, but he nodded and left the infirmary. Raph watched him go, then sat down in the vacant chair and took Don's limp hand in both of his, whispering a silent prayer to whatever god he thought could hear.

_Please. Please let him pull through._

* * *

Mikey trudged up the stairs, his mind still in the infirmary with his wounded brother. He didn't know what he'd do if Donnie died, or if they had to let him go. One thing for sure, though, he'd never speak to Leo again. Leo. How could he do this? His twin brother was lying comatose in the infirmary from a bullet he fired.

Talk of the devil – he hadn't been on the stairs, and the door to his room was ajar. Mikey peeked inside and saw his brother curled up on the bed, asleep, with tear tracks running down his face. He scowled. 'Feeling guilty?'

Leo woke instantly – he always did. 'Huh?'

'I. Said – Feeling. Guilty?' Mike replied, the venom dripping from his voice as his eyes narrowed. Leo started to tremble as his baby brother's icy glare burrowed into him. The voices laughed and snickered, only adding to the already agonizing ache that he was feeling inside.

**See!**

**Useless!**

**Stupid!**

**Hate you!**

**Hate you!**

**Hate you!**

'Leave me alone, all of you,' Leo moaned, curling up again. Mikey's scowl deepened. 'Fine then, you murderous traitor! Waste away in your little hideout, see if I care!' Part of him did, really, but it was only small, and the other parts that clamoured for revenge and justice crowded it out and made it impossible to hear.

Leo heard the hate and disgust in his little brother's voice. The door slammed and he broke down, crying uncontrollably. Mikey hated him. His baby brother, the ray of sunshine. He felt like he'd been stabbed in the heart.

No – he'd rather that than these shafts of ice-cold darkness that were shredding the fragile structure of his soul.

How easy it would be.

How simple.

Just a brief flash of pain and then everything would be over. He wouldn't have to hide anymore. The voices would leave. The icy darkness would melt and he would be free. A quick end to what would have been a lifetime of unbearable loneliness.

The voices chattered more madly now, sneering, aggressive. Leo found himself picking up a marker and writing desperately on the wall, his broken mind thinking that if he could somehow write down every voice, they would consider their job done and leave. When he had covered the whole wall in thick black writing, the marker dried up and he threw it across the room with a whine of frustration. They wouldn't leave. He realised that now. The voices would haunt him until the day he died.

A strange expression crept over Leo's face. He picked up a _tantō_ from his desk and stuck it through his belt, then scribbled a brief note on a piece of paper and left the room.

* * *

About half an hour later, the sound of the door woke Raph from his doze. He looked up to see Mikey peek in. 'Any change?'

'No. He's still stable, at least.'

'I wish he'd wake up,' said Mikey, looking down at his unconscious brother.

'Me too. It's funny don't vampires have some weird accelerated healing thing?'

As if on cue, Don's eyes snapped open and he bolted upright. 'Guys?'

* * *

**Ah, see? Don's okay! But Leo's not...  
**

**_Tant__ō_ – dagger**


	4. Broken

**Do you want me to write it out a hundred times? ****_I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…_**

* * *

Broken

Raph and Mikey were instantly alert.

'Donnie!'

'You're okay!'

'Of course I'm okay, I'm a vampire, aren't I? I thought I told you _last week_, if you stop me losing blood, I stop dying and start healing! I did not lose enough blood to constitute a mortal injury!'

'It seemed like an awful lotta blood, bro,' replied Mikey, his eyes brimming with tears as he remembered the sight on the roof that evening – _had it only been a few hours_?

'And? It was one bullet wound that didn't hit anything important. Even you two should have realised that.' Don glared at his younger brothers as if they were a particularly irritating mathematical equation. 'Which brings me to the question – did anybody bother to look after Leo? I saw some nasty scrapes when I came to myself again.'

Raph grumbled. 'We ain't speaking to Fearless. Ever again.'

'Never ever,' reiterated Mikey, crossing his arms. 'He tried to kill you! Nasty murdering traitor-'

'MIKEY!'

The orange-clad turtle jumped and backed away several steps. Don didn't shout often - so when he did, it was pretty scary. Not to mention the fact that an angry vampire was not to be messed with. _Ever. _'Did it even _occur_ to you,' hissed Donnie, 'that if Leo hadn't stopped me, I would most certainly have killed _him_. Upon which I would have waited for the both of you, and I don't think you'd have lasted long!'

'But he-'

'He's my twin brother, Raph! Not only that, he's _Leo_! Do you think he'd find it that easy to shoot me? He's probably eating his own heart out right now!'

Don practically vaulted off the bed. 'Have either of you seen him in the last half an hour?'

The others shook their heads warily.

'Well, who saw him last?' said Don, less angry now and more concerned. Mikey raised a trembling hand.

'Where?'

'About forty minutes ago, upstairs…'

Don was out of the room in an instant.

* * *

The door to Leo's room was slightly open, and there was a pool of light cast by the lamp on his desk, faint and yellow. Don took a tentative step inside. His twin was nowhere to be seen, but the lamplight picked up something strange on the wall. His long fingers snaked out and flicked on the light switch, illuminating the black writing. 'Oh, _Leo_…'

Don lowered his eyes, heart aching for his brother who was so obviously broken, who thought there was nobody who cared, who hated himself for what he'd done.

Then he saw the note lying on the desk. He picked it up, read it and dashed into his own room, changing his bloodstained clothes and pulling on sneakers before heading back out. Raph met him on the stairs. 'What are you doin'?'

'Going topside.'

'Where?'

'Where I should be – with a brother who needs me. I think I know where he is.'

'Leo's gone?'

'Yeah,' replied Don, the anger creeping back into his eyes. 'He's gone out in the rain and the cold because he can't take it anymore. He even left you two a note.'

And with that he sped out of the lair, hoping that his hunch was right and he'd find Leo in time.

* * *

It took Don just over half an hour to get to the abandoned train yard – one of the perks of being a vampire was enhanced speed and agility, making the rooftop journey a breeze.

Not to mention he knew exactly where he was going – the train yard was one of the best places to scavenge for building materials and old metal. It was also a great place to practise, as it was in the middle of several vacant lots along with a nature reserve on one side and the river on the other. Secluded, quiet, abandoned – and one of Leo and Don's favourite places, which was why the genius turtle was so sure of his hunch. He scaled the fence, dropped to the ground on the other side and looked around.

After a few moments of silence, he called out. 'Hello?' There was a clatter and a soft shuffling from behind a nearby pile of ballast. Don cautiously made his way towards the sound and found his twin sitting on the other side of the pile with his head in his hands. 'Leo?' said Don quietly, crouching in front of his brother.

Leo looked up, his brown eyes full of pain and anguish. 'Donnie? But you were-'

'Shh, it's okay, _ani_,' his twin replied, voice gentle as he took his brother's hands in his. 'Leo, you're freezing,' he continued, the medic in him taking over as he noticed his brother shivering. 'And you're soaked through, how long have you been out here?'

'I – I don't know.'

Don stood up and held out a hand to his brother. 'Come on, Leo.'

'Wh-where are we going?'

'Home, Leo. We're going home.'

* * *

**_Ani –_****affectionate term for a big brother (yes, I know I made them twins, but Leo is the older one. And it's just sweet bro-fluffiness.)**


	5. Understanding

**(sings) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, heroes in a half-shell – I don't own the turtle power!**

* * *

Understanding

'It's been almost two hours and he hasn't got back,' a worried Mikey muttered as he glanced toward the lair entrance. 'Why would he go looking for Fearless anyway?' Raph replied. 'It's not as if Leo gets all emotional about anything.'

Don chose that moment to walk through the door with an arm around his twin, who was sopping wet, shivering, and _clearly_ distressed. He pointed Leo in the direction of the bedrooms, giving him a gentle push to speed up his dragging feet. 'Dry clothes first, then _straight_ to the infirmary so I can look at your arm – I can see the end of that bandage.' Leo stumbled down the hallway and vanished into his room.

Don turned to the others. 'Be nice to him. He's… unstable… at the moment.'

'What's wrong with him, Donnie? He doesn't seem like Leo anymore.'

'I'll tell you what's wrong with him, Mike. He was hurting and nobody noticed. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go clean up the infirmary.' Don glared at them for a moment and left.

Mikey looked like he was about to say something, but gave an irritated sigh and turned away, retreating to the couch. Raph frowned at the infirmary door. He was sure the room was very clean – maybe a little disorganized, perhaps.

Then it hit him. Don's OCD tendencies usually kicked in when he was stressed or worried. Was Don worried about Leo – could his eldest brother be in serious pain? Raph watched as said turtle – now in a dry T-shirt and sweatpants but still a pitiful sight – shuffled down the stairs and into the infirmary. He frowned again. Why did Leo have a bandage on his arm?

He headed up towards the bedrooms. Maybe he ought to read that note.

* * *

Don looked up as his twin walked into the infirmary and sat on the edge of the bed. His concern grew as he looked his brother over – in the light, it was clear Leo was not well at all. The eldest's eyes were dull and lifeless, and his green skin was worryingly pale. He was covered in dirt and grime from the train yard, and Don could see several grazes and bruises beneath the dirt, probably sustained during that evening's rooftop battle.

However his eyes stopped their roving on the bloodstained bandage around Leo's right forearm. That would have to be taken care of first. He had a sinking feeling that it was his fault.

Don reached for stitching tools and a local anaesthetic. _Doctor time._

MEANWHILE…

Raph hesitated outside his eldest brother's bedroom door. He wasn't exactly sure what he would find. Don had said that Leo was 'unstable' – what did that mean, anyway? Lost in his thoughts, he opened the door and looked around. 'Oh, man.'

The writing was haphazard, uneven, as if it had been written in a moment of intense emotion. Raph's heart sank as he read the words, repeated over and over again.

TRAITOR

USELESS

STUPID

MURDERER

HATE YOU

ALL YOUR FAULT

'Oh, gods. What did they do to ya, bro?' He heard footsteps coming up the stairs. 'Raph?' It was Mikey, sounding tired and angry. 'What are you doing?'

'Mike…' Raph replied, his voice quiet. 'Look at this.'

'What-' Mike's face froze momentarily, then fell. His eyes widened, and he turned to his brother. 'Shell, Raph… what's wrong with Leo's mind?'

* * *

Don finished stitching the last gash on his brother's arm and tied off the thread, then re-bandaged it to stop any blood. He didn't like the look of the injury – the skin around it was definitely inflamed, and the jagged slashes themselves had been deep and dangerously close to a major blood vessel.

He felt a drop land on the back of his hand, and looked up to see three more trickle out of Leo's half-closed eyes. Leo noticed his twin's shocked expression and hastily dashed them away, but more quickly spilled over, and then he couldn't hold back the sob caught in his throat. He pulled his knees up to his chest and hid his face in his arms, trying to hide his shame at breaking down. He was supposed to be the strong one, the one in control, and now he was crying in front of his brother?

Don seemed to guess what was going through Leo's mind, as straight away his expression switched from shocked to pitying and he placed a comforting hand on his brother's arm. Leo's shoulders started shaking as he began to cry softly, the emotions that had been mostly trapped inside for the past few hours finally surfacing. 'I'm s-sorry D-donnie,' he choked out, 'I d-don't know what's wrong with me, I don't know why I was th-thinking about – about-'

Don said nothing, but sat on the bed and pulled his brother into a hug. Leo buried his face in his genius brother's shoulder, not caring about or even noticing the role reversal as Donnie took on the task of being the big brother to his distressed twin.

They sat like that for neither of them knew how long, the only sounds being Leo's muffled sobs and Don's soft voice whispering in Japanese. After what seemed like an hour, Don released the hug but kept an arm around his brother. He reached over to the small table beside the bed and picked up a damp cloth. Leo sat very still as his twin gently wiped the tears and smudged dirt from his face. His eyes were half-closed again and he looked exhausted. Don shot the now-dirty cloth into the nearby sink, then wrapped his arms around Leo again as said brother's head drooped onto his shoulder.

He frowned as he felt heat radiating from Leo's forehead and reached for the thermometer. 'How long have you been feeling sick?'

Leo's eyes opened, glassy and unfocused. 'Um… don't remember… lost track of time…' He grimaced as Don stuck the thermometer in his mouth and laid him back on the bed, covering him with the sheet. 'Don't feel good…' The thermometer beeped and Don took it, eyes widening as he read the screen. 'Shell, that's high. Leo, you need to try and get some sleep.'

'I don't want to sleep… the voices, Don… they'll come for me… take me away…'

'No they won't Leo – I'll stay here, okay? But you have to rest, you're really sick.'

'Okay…'

Don pulled a chair up to the bed and took his brother's hand. Leo had one heck of a fight ahead, and he was going to help in any way he could. If that meant just being there, than that's what he'd do – for his brother.


	6. Delirium

**If I owned the turtles, it wouldn't be 'fan'-fiction. Duh. :P**

* * *

Delirium

That silence was still around, thought Casey, as he entered the lair for the second time that night. But it wasn't that depressing silence of before – it was more that there was just no one making noise.

It was still creepy, though, and April seemed to agree, shivering slightly when she looked around.

Just then, a visibly shocked Raph and a very silent Mikey came down the hallway from the bedrooms. They acknowledged their friends' presence, then sat down on the stairs without a word, echoing Leo's position just hours earlier.

'Guys, what's going on?' April asked, her mind jumping through one worst-case scenario after another. Mikey wordlessly looked toward the infirmary, and the two humans glanced at each other before slowly making their way forward, dreading what might be behind it. The door opened and a worried-looking Donatello emerged. He seemed surprised to see his human friends there. 'April? Casey? When did you get here?'

'Just a few minutes ago,' April replied. 'But – last time we were here, you were-'

'Comatose. Not dying. Just saying.'

'Oh. So... why is everybody concerned, then?'

Don's gaze shifted to his brothers on the stairs. 'We saw the writing on the wall.'

'In more than one sense,' Raph mumbled. April turned from the two younger turtles back to Don, seeing the missing piece. 'Leo?'

'Has had a rather emotional breakdown and - for some reason that is still beyond me - is showing some signs of paranoid schizophrenia,' the genius twin replied. 'On top of that, he has septicemia – blood poisoning – from an infected wound and what is probably the highest fever any of us have ever experienced.'

Faces changed swiftly from shock to what seemed like guilt-ridden concern. 'Can't you do something, Donnie?' asked Mikey, entering the conversation for the first time, his blue eyes wide and worried.

'I'm afraid not. He needs a massive dose of penicillin to combat the infection, but we ran out of it a week before all this started.'

Hope crept onto April's face. 'I think we have some. Casey-'

'Already on it, babe. If I can't find it, I'll try and get some somewhere,' he replied, sprinting up the stairs and out of the lair while pulling on his jacket. The redhead watched him go, then turned back to the purple-masked turtle. 'Don, we came back down because there's something I wanted to show you guys. While I was getting the bullet out of you, I found _this_ and took it home to study.'

She held up a small metallic device. 'It contained traces of a very powerful mind-control drug, along with a system to inject it directly into the minor nerve it was attached to. Leo's shot must have sheared the nerve and cut off the drug's path to your brain.'

'He's always had a good aim,' Don said wryly, scrutinising the device. 'I'll take a look at it later. Right now I need to stay with Leo.'

'Do you need any help?'

'There's not much we can do, but I'd appreciate the company.'

April nodded and followed Don into the infirmary.

* * *

He was floating inside a bubble, its walls made of shadows. Outside, the voices laughed, mocking his helplessness. Leo struggled weakly against the walls of his prison, but they wouldn't break. _Let me out!_

_Somebody!_

_HELP ME!_

Dark fire blazed in Leo's eyes and he pounded against the bubble. It shattered into a thousand pieces; the shards – like glass now instead of soap film – flew past him, leaving trails of bright red blood across his green skin; and then he was falling, falling into a void of starry midnight without end…

Then – a choking sensation as water rose up out of nowhere over his head.

He couldn't breathe.

He needed air.

Desperately Leo kicked and thrashed, trying to reach the surface, but something grabbed his ankle and pulled him down… then, like a movie changing scenes, he was running through a twisting hedge maze, chased by a shadowy being that did nothing but laugh. He tripped and fell –

- and woke with a jerk.

Don saw his brother's eyes fly open, and quickly moved to reassure him. He was really worried now – Leo's skin was burning hot to touch, his breathing had become harsh and irregular, and he couldn't sleep without encountering vivid nightmares.

Casey had been searching all over Manhattan for a 24-hour chemist that stocked the right kind of penicillin, and wasn't having any luck so far. April had asked him to keep searching for another hour, her voice betraying the fact that she didn't hold out much hope. She still kept Don company during Leo's periods of restless sleep, and occasionally one of the other turtles would poke their heads around the door to try and see how their eldest brother was faring.

But the lair was still silent.

* * *

Mikey sat at the kitchen table, a tear falling onto the wood as the guilt ate away at him. _If only I hadn't been so mean, then Leo wouldn't have left the lair and gotten so sick. I must have messed up his mind so badly when I said I didn't care. I did, really. I was just so angry and worried…_

Raph could feel the worry gnawing at his heart, but he pushed it aside. _Leo will get through this – he's the strongest person I know. He's made it back from the brink before._

Just then, Don and April exited the infirmary. The genius walked as if he had lead weights on his feet, and April looked devastated. Mikey was sure his heart stopped. 'Don… Donnie, he's not…'

Don drew in a long breath before answering. 'About five minutes ago, Leo slipped into a coma,' he forced out through the lump in his throat. 'I don't know how long he has left.'

* * *

**Oooooh - I'm so evil... First Donnie, now Leo - I told you I like to drag my favourite characters through the depths of hell and back.**


	7. Wake Up

**I don't… why do I keep saying this? It's FAN-fiction, not OWNER-fiction!**

* * *

Wake Up

Nothing really moved in the sewers that night. It was as if all the creatures that lived there knew instinctively that there was something very wrong in their domain, and it unsettled them.

In the lair, all that moved was the page of a book, fluttered by the breath of a dozing turtle.

A beep close by made Donatello start. 'Must have dropped off,' he mumbled, staring at the computer screen, with the words 'no results' blinking morosely back at him. He sighed and looked back down at the book. 'There's got to be _something_, every illness has a cure or at least a _treatment _of some sort _besides_ the obvious one.'

**You've got no penicillin**, the realist inside him said. Casey had just called in the report another failure, and April, looking to Don for confirmation, had told him to return to the lair. **Damage is already progressing – why do you bother?** That was the inner pessimist, and Don felt a very strong urge to slap himself for letting that side of him have a say.

Then another thought said**, Look, Donnie, you have the answer already – in that big brain of yours somewhere – you just haven't let it cross your mind. Stop thinking so hard!** Don frowned. That part of his brain sounded familiar. _Leo?_

A laugh. **No, Donnie. But you needed to talk to someone who understands you, so you gave the intuitive part of your brain – me – your brother's voice. Now stop thinking so hard and let the answer come!** The voice was so much like Leo's that Don couldn't help following its order, and tried to relax his mind.

He was idly playing with a pen, trying to roll it around his finger, when his eye fell on an old folder of blood tests. _Blood… I don't think I'll ever be able to stand the sight of it again… wait – blood – vampires – the Sanguine healing factor! If I can isolate the protein, then -  
_

Don jumped out of his seat and ran for his chemistry equipment. _No time to lose!_

* * *

Raph emerged from the infirmary, wiping furiously at his eyes. He couldn't stay in there a moment longer, watching his brother drift away. He knew he was a coward – Leo would have stayed if it was Raph in there – but he just couldn't stand it.

A rummaging noise accompanied by mutterings in what sounded like Japanese garbled with Spanish and something else he didn't recognise, reached his ears as he passed Don's lab. What was that crazy genius up to _now_? Raph sighed and pushed open the door. 'Donnie – whoa…'

Don poked his head up from behind an elaborate setup of tubes, retorts, flasks and about a million other things. 'Hey, Raph,' he said - sounding to the red-masked ninja very much as if he was about to pass out. 'Kind of busy right now.' He swayed slightly but kept his feet, his eyes fixed on a vial of clear liquid above a Bunsen burner.

After a second, he snatched it, dipped a swab in the fluid, corked the vial, and smeared the swab on a glass slide which he placed under a microscope. 'Yes! Raph, take that vial to the infirmary, we've got to get that serum into Leo right away.'

'What is it?'

'Liquid life, Raph – the Sanguine healing factor.'

'How'd ya –'

'Four pints of blood and a lot of hard work,' replied Don, swaying again as a wave of dizziness hit him like a brick.

'Oh. Hang on – _four pints?_' cried Raph, shocked. 'Donnie, it's a wonder you're still conscious! Sit down before you fall down!'

'No, Raph,' said Don, his voice slurring a little as he realised how tired he was. 'Got to help Leo…'

'Hang on. April? Could you come in here, please?'

The redhead rushed into the lab. Raph handed her the vial. 'We gotta get this in Leo's bloodstream now.' April nodded and left the room at a run. Raph turned back to Don just as the genius collapsed, catching him before he hit the desk. He picked up the purple-clad turtle as Don slipped into unconsciousness. '_Yasumi_, _ot__ō__to_. You've worked too hard for too long. When ya wake up, everythin'll be okay.'

* * *

Drifting back into wakefulness, Don smiled and wriggled further into the warmth of the blanket. It felt so good…

'Morning, sleepyhead,' said a voice from the end of the bed. Don looked up, blinking sleepily. Mikey was curled up at his feet like a hot water bottle, and Raph was leaning against the wall smiling down at him. 'How are ya?'

'M'okay. Bit woozy. Leo?'

'He's stable now – fever's down, heart rate's back to normal an' his breathin's eased up. April reckons he'll be awake in the next couple of hours.'

'Good. What is Mikey doing at the end of my bed?'

'You were having nightmares, bro,' the orange-masked brother replied. 'I didn't wanna leave you alone, 'cause I know you don't like being alone.'

'Guys!' It was April. 'I think he's waking up.'

They rushed downstairs to the infirmary, nearly tripping each other over as they ran. Mikey dropped into the chair, Raph stood at the end, and Don sat on the edge of the bed, taking his brother's hand in his. April and Casey stood back a bit, watchful.

'Morning, Leo,' whispered Mikey.

And Leo's eyes opened.

* * *

**Yay, he's alive! But, is he _okay_? ;)**

**Story three finished! Part four is on its way – and will answer all your questionsabout what's happening with Leo. It will also be a character POV story, with each chapter in the perspective of one of the brothers.**

**_Yasumi – _rest**

**_Ot__ō__to_ - brother**


End file.
